The Ladies of the Air

In an industry dominated by male supremacy for so many decades, the aviatrixes came a long way to establish their position and continue growing the incontestable legacy further.

To address this subject, the best way to start would be to answer the question: What is the percentage of female FAA-certified pilots? The answer is 9%, with around 65000 women pilots. The Pilot Institute provides very good statistics when it comes to % of women in various jobs in the aviation industry.

Although the female representation is assiduously and stubbornly increasing, if we would make a comparison with the other industries, the % of women pilots is higher than the % of women boat captains and operators, which is around 8.2%, but lower than the women police officers (15%), and female doctors and surgeons (31.8%). Unfortunately, the without a shade of a doubt conclusion is that these professions are still traditionally dominated by males. Nevertheless, female representation in aviation still has a long way to go compared to these industries.

We also must consider that, since prejudices based on gender differences have a prevalent and potent influence on performance, it is essential to manage gender diversity properly to meet the challenges of a two-gender workplace. This can also pose significant repercussions for flight crew efficacy and aviation safety.